


Three Sentence Fictions

by drayton



Category: Oxford Time Travel Universe - Connie Willis
Genre: 3 Sentence Fiction, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-25
Updated: 2015-05-06
Packaged: 2018-03-13 11:10:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3379340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drayton/pseuds/drayton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Three Sentence Ficathon got me started on writing ultra-short fics for my favorite fandom.  This "story" is a collection of the results.  I was running out of space in this summary box, so the table of contents with brief summaries has been moved to chapter one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Table of Contents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter lists the title and summary for each three sentence fiction. The number to the left of each fiction is its chapter number, which is why the list starts with number 2.

2\. Left Behind – For Eileen, sometimes patience doesn't feel patient.  
3\. Fair Viola – Did Sir Godfrey know, or only guess?  
4\. Basingame's Escape – Why was Basingame so unreachable?  
5\. Night Terror – For Colin, coming back from 1349 takes a bit more than stepping into the net.  
6\. Moving Day – Dunworthy frets after Colin's return to London.  
7\. Second Thoughts – Colin's first summer in Oxford isn't going according to plan.  
8\. Today We Have Maiming of Hearts – Ernest works on an article after Polly's deadline.  
9\. Incline Thine Ear – Kivrin keeps the corder.  
10\. Ten Words – There's always paperwork to take care of.  
11\. Miscalculation – One of Colin's plans goes awry.  
12\. Summer Schemes – Dunworthy's summer plans bear fruit.  
13\. Dearly Beloved – Ned and Verity marry in the new cathedral.  
14\. Underneath This Stone Doth Lie – Dunworthy, after the death of Elizabeth Bittner.  
15\. Individual Action – Badri takes matters into his own hands.  
16\. The Acid Test – Finch gets involved.  
17\. The Note – Colin receives an unexpected suggestion from Kivrin.  
18\. Fitter, Where It Died to Tell – Dunworthy changes his mind.  
19\. The Naughty Chair – Dunworthy is displeased.  
20\. In Durance Vile – Kivrin ponders her situation.  
21\. Dilemma – Sometimes it's hard to find the right words.  
22\. Farewell – Dunworthy comes to terms with the loss of Elizabeth Bittner.


	2. Left Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Blackout/All Clear; Eileen.
> 
> Sometimes patience doesn't feel patient.

She'd known things would be difficult without Polly's help, but feels overwhelmed by the daily struggles with rationing, air raids, and irate schoolmistresses. Sir Godfrey's distress, never quite masked by his bellowed demands, only seems to intensify her own misery, and she waits fretfully for Reverend Goode's letters while constantly scanning her surroundings for Colin, wishing she'd had the sense to ask him when and where they'll meet again. Pining for the loss of Polly and Mr. Dunworthy, she looks for hope and finds it in an unlikely object: the bright green coat that is now a part of their past and her future.


	3. Fair Viola

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: Blackout/All Clear; Sir Godfrey.
> 
> Does he know or only guess?

From the very beginning, he knows she's different: no ordinary shopgirl could be so well-versed in Shakespeare, so intelligent, so... captivating. Only gradually does he realize this vision from a foreign shore has actually come to him from a different time, and in his more hopeful moments he imagines she's come specifically for him. Whether heaven-sent or chance-met, he has no doubt she's transformed his life, restoring a joy and sense of purpose he'd thought never to feel again.


	4. Basingame's Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doomsday Book; Basingame.
> 
> Why was Basingame so unreachable?

There are few tasks in academia so unrewarding as being department head, so when Gilchrist’s near-constant whinging about the reassessment of the Middle Ages reaches intolerable levels, Basingame resolves to plan his escape. He knows the respite will be temporary, but while away on holiday, he can allow himself the luxury of fantasizing that Gilchrist has unexpectedly received a large inheritance or moved to America or been devoured by bears. He cultivates the mistaken belief that he's going fishing in Scotland when he's actually planning a holiday with an old school friend, Detective Superintendent Bertram Fish of Scotland Yard, because truly, what could come up during Christmas that would be so urgent?


	5. Night Terror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-Doomsday Book; Colin. 
> 
> Coming back from 1349 takes a bit more than stepping into the net.

He dreams of cold and snow and too-familiar corpses, and wakes with a shudder, not sure whether his anguished cry was audible or only part of the nightmare. A soothing hand on his shoulder and a soft, “Colin?” tell him he's still in quarantine and has woken Mr. Dunworthy again. He apologizes and gradually relaxes as Dunworthy murmurs reassuring nonsense, then falls asleep while doggedly reminding himself that they're safe, safe, safe.

 

 


	6. Moving Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-Doomsday Book; Dunworthy. 
> 
> Dunworthy frets after Colin's return to London.

Dunworthy spends several days restlessly awaiting some reaction from London: an angry phone call, a stiffly worded letter, a formal complaint from the family solicitor. When he finally acknowledges the unwelcome truth that Deirdre Templer is wholly indifferent to how her son spent his Christmas holiday, he instructs Finch to juggle the housing assignments and secure a larger suite of rooms for him. In Oxford, at least, Colin should feel wanted, and furnishing a bedroom on the off chance he'll turn up again is a good beginning.


	7. Second Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-Doomsday Book; Colin.
> 
> Colin's first summer with Dunworthy isn't going according to plan.

Colin is accustomed to scheming, sidestepping, and using disarming politeness. At Christmas, Mr. Dunworthy seemed easygoing, but the epidemic is over, the bell-ringers have gone, and Kivrin is safely home, leaving an undistracted Dunworthy who's difficult to deceive and keenly aware of Colin's activities.

After all these years, is he actually going to have to _obey_ someone?

 

 


	8. Today We Have Maiming of Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All Clear; Michael Davies.
> 
> Ernest works on an article after Polly's deadline.

“To the Editor of the _Sudbury Shopper:_ I reside in Lower Hardres, near Canterbury, and am continually dismayed by the low habits of the American soldiers who have recently begun lining every hedgerow near our quiet village and affronting the virtue of my lovely daughter, Polly,” Ernest types listlessly.

It is New Year's Eve, 1943; he's failed to save Polly's life, and he can't even try to locate Eileen to console her without drawing unwanted attention to himself. He removes the half-finished article from the typewriter and locks it away as Cess blunders in with a bottle of dubious champagne to wish him a Happy New Year.


	9. Incline Thine Ear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-Doomsday Book; Kivrin.
> 
> Kivrin keeps the corder.

Kivrin persuades a tech to offload the information from her corder without removing it from her wrist. By now, using the corder is a soothing habit, and she frequently turns to it during the long watches of the night.

“Mr. Dunworthy, I didn't have any panic attacks today,” she murmurs, unaware that her confidences will one day form the basis of a seminal paper on drop trauma.

 

 


	10. Ten Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-Doomsday Book; original character.
> 
> There's always paperwork to take care of.

Naturally, Eton keeps electronic copies of their student files, but Headmaster Leighton, nearing retirement, entrusts his personal observations of the boys to a set of paper files accessible only to him. He's in the midst of reviewing and updating the files for the benefit of his successor when he reaches the file for Templer: a clever, well-made boy of thirteen who's full of mischief but not mean-spirited.

He pauses at the line reading, “Parent or Guardian: Deirdre Templer,” and sighs before penciling in, “Minimally engaged. Gave consent to contact James Dunworthy. Dunworthy responsive.”


	11. Miscalculation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-Doomsday Book; Colin.
> 
> One of Colin's plans goes awry.

Colin's not the least bit concerned about being sent to the headmaster: his housemaster can't prove Colin and his friends have anything to do with that after-hours explosion in the science lab, and his mother wouldn't care, anyway, assuming she can even be reached by telephone.

His insouciance vanishes abruptly when he reaches the headmaster's office and finds Mr. Dunworthy waiting there, wearing his sternest expression.

 _Bugger_.


	12. Summer Schemes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-Doomsday Book; Dunworthy, Kivrin, Colin. Summer 2055. 
> 
> Dunworthy's summer plans bear fruit.

_Somehow, we belong together_ , Dunworthy thinks, and smiles at the unexpected sound of Kivrin's laughter floating back to him as she and Colin race their horses across a meadow tucked into a bit of wild land set aside for the training of historians. Kivrin has been slowly emerging from the ruins of her practicum and Colin is still insecure about his welcome in Oxford, but their uncertainty fades when they're together, teasing each other as she and Dunworthy teach Colin a few practical skills he'll need someday if he becomes an historian.

Yes, they belong together: the wounded girl, the unloved boy, and the aging don foolish enough to hope he can heal them both.

 


	13. Dearly Beloved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-To Say Nothing of the Dog; original character.
> 
> Ned and Verity marry in the new cathedral.

_The things young people do for weddings these days_ , Nicola Shrewsbury thinks with bemusement, as she watches her great-niece recite the antiquated vows in a clear, steady voice that easily carries throughout the cathedral. The bride and groom are historians, so she'd half-expected the period dress and hopelessly old-fashioned ceremony, but why is the groom wearing such an unsuitable hat, and why does Verity have a kitten perched on her shoulder? And _what_ is that _thing_ filled with yellow chrysanthemums doing on the altar?


	14. Underneath This Stone Doth Lie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-To Say Nothing of the Dog; Dunworthy.
> 
> Dunworthy, after the death of Elizabeth Bittner.

Lizzie was entombed with honor in the crypt of the new cathedral after a lengthy, painful decline. I strove daily to pretend fresh loss is incapable of reopening old wounds, to remind myself that deliberately tinkering with history is a fool's game likely doomed to failure, to re-bury the past, because a responsible historian would never, _never_ risk all of the continuum to spare the life and health of a woman who would never be his, even if he succeeded.

And it was all for nothing: ten days after her death, I began searching for the right moment in 2018 to persuade her to let me go to Coventry in her place.


	15. Individual Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-To Say Nothing of the Dog; Badri.
> 
> Badri takes matters into his own hands.

His grief for Mrs. Bittner was deep and unmistakable: having lost most of my family at the age of thirteen, I knew far more about grief than I'd ever wanted to learn.

I'd worked with Dunworthy for several years, and knew him to be a sensible, intelligent man, but grief and love can make fools of us all.

I locked down the net without telling him.


	16. The Acid Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-To Say Nothing of the Dog; Finch.
> 
> Finch gets involved.

When Dunworthy scarcely noticed the litter of month-old kittens that mysteriously escaped the basket I'd momentarily set down on his desk, I knew it was time to report back to Miss Engle.

“No reaction to the kittens,” I said. “You'll have to resort to using Colin.”


	17. The Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-To Say Nothing of the Dog; Colin.
> 
> Colin receives an unexpected suggestion from Kivrin.

I was surprised to receive a brief note by post from Kivrin: “Colin,” it read, “if you've been thinking of doing anything spectacularly memorable that you shouldn't, now would be an excellent time to do it.”

I try to avoid being caught doing “memorable” things, as they have a tendency to bring Dunworthy's wrath down on my head, and Kivrin knows it. Sighing to myself, I began trying to think of something bad enough to warrant a visit from Dunworthy, but not so bad that I'd be grounded for half of the summer.


	18. Fitter, Where It Died to Tell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-To Say Nothing of the Dog; Dunworthy.
> 
> Dunworthy changes his mind.

Sanity reasserted itself on a damp Thursday morning three weeks after Lizzie's death, when I received a call from Colin's headmaster.

All of the possible plans I'd made to go to Coventry in Lizzie's place, sparing her the lung damage that would warp the rest of her life and lead to a painful, protracted death suddenly collapsed under the weight of two realizations: Lizzie was dead, and saving her was a impossible fantasy born of grief, while Colin was alive, and needed a strong parental figure in his life.

Brushing tears from my cheeks, I chucked the secret notes I'd been making into the wastebin and left for Eton, thinking that Colin would be a very sorry young man indeed if I learned he'd pulled this latest stunt to capture my attention.


	19. The Naughty Chair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-To Say Nothing of the Dog; Kivrin, Dunworthy.
> 
> Dunworthy is displeased.

Dunworthy was furious, and I was immeasurably relieved: wherever he'd gone inside his head, he was definitely back. I hadn't expected, though, to be led by the elbow to the odd little cul-de-sac in his rooms where Colin was occasionally exiled while waiting for tempers to cool.

As I turned to Dunworthy in confusion, he said through clenched teeth, “You put him up to it.”


	20. In Durance Vile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-To Say Nothing of the Dog; Kivrin.
> 
> Kivrin ponders her situation.

I wonder whether Colin told Dunworthy or whether it was a shrewd guess; either way, I'm surprised to find myself just sitting here like a schoolgirl, although it would be a pleasant enough place if only I had something to read. I much prefer a cross Dunworthy to the suffering shadow I've seen of late, so I'm willing to humor him for a while, but not indefinitely.

Colin once told me that this chair is in a different temporal dimension where time passes much more slowly: I should have believed him.


	21. Dilemma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-To Say Nothing of the Dog; Dunworthy, Kivrin.
> 
> Sometimes it's hard to find the right words.

I know she's not a child, but I'm so angry I can barely speak, and cooling her heels while I calm down will do neither of us any harm. With a start, I realize her scheme has succeeded in bringing me back to my senses; perhaps I should be grateful as well as angry.

Another five minutes, then, while I sort out how to say, “Thank you,” and “How could you?” at the same time.


	22. Farewell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> post-To Say Nothing of the Dog; Dunworthy.
> 
> Dunworthy comes to terms with the loss of Elizabeth Bittner.

Five weeks after Lizzie's death, I'd broken the chains of despair but saw echoes of her everywhere: in the tree-lined quad where we'd walked as students, in the eager faces of undergraduates, in Merope Ward's red hair. Standing before her tomb, I wondered, not for the first time, what would cause the incongruity six hundred years from now that Lizzie had done her part to correct by rescuing artifacts from a burning cathedral.

I preferred to remember her that way now: not as a frail old woman lost to me forever, but as a fearless young historian diving head-first into the past, unaware that sacrificing herself for someone she loved would reshape the future for all of us.

 


End file.
